Strengthening Rural Communities – Prepare & Recover
The Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) Prepare & Recover program supports communities in remote, rural and regional communities across Australia to implement initiatives that prevent and prepare for future climate related impacts, or recover from existing disasters in the medium to long-term timeframe, generally one to ten years after the disaster.
Grants up to $25,000 are available for a broad range of initiatives to strengthen the capacity and capability of local people, organisations, networks, and systems that help communities to be informed, skilled, connected and resourced for the future.
Specifically, SRC Prepare & Recover will support communities impacted by the following disasters:
Please check the full guidelines for specific eligible locations listed by local Government Area. If you believe that you are in a disaster impacted community that is not listed, please call us on 1800 170 020 to discuss. If your project does not relate to these specific natural disasters, please complete an SRC Small & Vital or SRC Rebuilding Regional Communities application.
Future rounds
Round 18
Opens: 1 June 2023
Closes: 31 August 2023
Funding announced by end December 2023
Round 17 now open
Applications close 5pm VIC time (AEST) 31 May 2023
Funding announced by late September 2023
View Grantseeker Workshop recording (Sept 2021)
Recipient Announcements
Explore other streams in the Strengthening Rural Communities program:
How to apply for SRC Prepare & Recover
Please read the information on each of the three tabs below to make sure this is the right grant for your project.
If you want to explore other grant options, please go to Find Funding Now.
I have a question, who can I talk to?
Our state-based Grants Officers are your go-to people for any program related queries for the SRC program.
Ph: 1800 170 020 or Email: info@frrr.org.au
Confirm you are eligible to apply for this grant
To make sure this is the right grant for your community, please read the grant information detailed in the Program Guidelines below carefully. Click on each headline to reveal the detail. If you need to share this information with others, you can download the guidelines below.
What are the program objectives?
SRC Prepare & Recover aims to support projects that:
Is this grant available in my area?
We have funding to support applications from the following Local Government Areas declared by the Australian Government and listed by Disaster Assist, as noted below. If you are in a disaster impacted community that is not listed, please call us on 1800 170 020 to discuss.
Projects responding to the COVID pandemic are not eligible for these grants. But we encourage you to apply via the SRC Rebuilding Regional Communities stream of SRC, which supports pandemic related recovery.
Eligible project locations for these events will generally align with Australian Government declared areas as outlined by Disaster Assist but this will not be the only basis on which an application is assessed or prioritised. If you are in a disaster impacted community that is not listed, please call us on 1800 170 020 to discuss.
How much funding is available? Are there priority areas?
These grants are available thanks to the generous support of the donors listed at the bottom of this page.
Organisations can request up to $25,000 per round in the SRC Prepare & Recover program for projects that relate to the following disasters:
While all requests will be considered, priorities for funding are outlined below:
What can be funded?
A broad range of charitable activities are considered under this program, including:
What can’t be funded?
There are several areas that we can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.
Is my organisation eligible?
To apply, your organisation must meet the following criteria:
Please note, you will be considered ineligible if the:
Gather information to support your grant application
Please read the information below to support the planning and preparation of your project. It also sets out what you MUST include for your project to be considered. There are plenty of helpful resources to support you along the way.
Please contact FRRR if you have any questions about the following information.
Your grant application MUST include:
Eligible legal entities
Every application needs to include an organisation that holds either an ABN or Incorporation Certificate. If your organisation doesn’t have that, FRRR may still fund the project but you need another organisation’s support, which we refer to as the ‘legal organisation’ (with your organisation being the delivery organisation). This situation often occurs when the organisation delivering the activity or project is a branch of an overarching organisation – such as a local CWA or YMCA branch. In this case, the CWA or YMCA would be the legal organisation.
Even though your organisation may complete the application (and will be doing the work), it’s the ‘legal organisation’s’ legal and financial information that needs to be provided. They also need to provide a letter of support, confirming they are willing to play this role.
Why is this important?
This program is only able to distribute funds to not-for-profit organisations with an ABN or Incorporation Certificate, and FRRR needs to know that the organisation with that ABN / Incorporation number understands and agrees to carry out their responsibilities in relation to your project, if successful.
Financial information
Applications received without the requested financial information are ineligible. Providing incorrect financial information is currently the most common reason why applications are not able to be considered. You must attach the following:
- For organisations that have audited financial reports: Attach the most recent annual audited statements;
- For organisations that do not have an annual financial audit: Attach the most recent 12 months Income and Expenditure Statement. If you have a Balance Sheet, please also submit this;
- For organisations less than one year old: Provide Bank Statements for the period you have been operating.
Please note:
- If financial documents are more than 18 months old, please provide an explanation as to why the organisation does not have more recent documents;
- Bank Statements are only acceptable as financial documentation if your organisation has been operating for less than one year;
- Please explain any deficits and steps to sustain the organisation financially;
- Provide a brief explanation of any large financial surplus or current assets and reasons why FRRR funds are still required;
- Income and Expenditure statements must cover a full 12-month period;
- FRRR conducts a broad range of due diligence queries when reviewing applications, such as: reviewing current and past incorporation, DGR and ACNC status. If your organisation has happened to have their incorporation status, DGR status or ACNC status changed or ACNC registration revoked or voluntarily withdrawn, please let us know the reasons for this.
Please contact us if you cannot provide required financials or you are unsure about what to provide.
Why is this important?
FRRR uses this information to understand your organisation’s financial viability and ability to manage grant funds.
Project budget
You must include a project budget that clearly shows the items that FRRR grant funds would be used for and that also shows all income and expenses related to your project.
Budgets should be realistic and must add up – i.e. total expenditure must match total income.
Applicant contributions in cash or in-kind are highly regarded. Quotes or detailed rationale for items over $1,000 are required, where possible. Note: FRRR suggests costing unskilled volunteer labour at $41.00 per hour.
For more info on costing volunteer labour, visit: https://www.fundingcentre.com.au/help/valuing-volunteer-labour.
Why is this important?
A clear budget helps FRRR to understand the size of your project, exactly how FRRR funds will be spent and helps demonstrate community support for your project through in-kind contributions either from your organisation or partners / community members.
Helpful resources:
Supporting materials
FRRR strongly recommends that you provide supporting materials such as letters of support, community plans, survey results, photographs, media clips and research reports that can show broad community support and partnerships involved in the project.
Large documents should be referenced and explained in the application.
Why is this important?
FRRR seeks to fund projects that are well-supported by the broader local community, are locally-led and delivered, show good partnerships and benefit multiple parts of the community. As FRRR is not always familiar with your community, our staff consider support material as evidence toward understanding the level of community need, benefit and support.
Helpful resources:
Clear project information
Each application is assessed on its ability to address local priorities and benefit the broader community. A clear description of exactly what the grant funds will be used for, when and where the project will happen, who will benefit and who will be involved in delivering the project, why the project and grant funds are needed, how funds will be spent and how the activities and success of the project will be recorded, evaluated and shared.
Where possible, we encourage you to make it really clear that your organisation is ready and able to deliver the project and, if required, provide ongoing support for the initiative.
Why is this important?
FRRR needs to clearly understand your project to assess its merits. Applicants should focus on addressing the what, when, where, who, why and how of the project, as this is the best way to clearly communicate the details of the project.
A ready community is best placed to achieve the aims of your project, so during assessment, our staff look for information that tells us that good leadership, skills and awareness exist in your community to support the project now and in the future.
Helpful resources:
Focus area
We have grouped the kinds of projects communities commonly ask us to help fund into seven areas, which we call the Activity Tree:
1. Building community resilience
2. Developing organisational resilience and capacity
3. Enhancing environmental sustainability
4. Fostering cultural vibrancy
5. Lifelong learning and education
6. Economic strength
7. Improving community health and social wellbeing
We ask you to nominate one of those seven areas when you apply. So, before you lodge your application, download the Activity Tree to help you identify your focus area.
Why is this important?
FRRR makes grants to communities, but we also need to be able to demonstrate to our funding partners where communities need support.
Need some more help?
We have a large selection of resources on our Grantseeker Resources page to help you along the way.
Submit your grant application via the Grants Gateway
Applications for all streams close 5pm VIC time (AEST), 31 May 2023.
Please contact FRRR if you have questions about any aspect of the Grants Gateway online application form.
Helpful resources:
It is time to submit your application. If it is helpful, you can download a sample copy of the application form.
Please read the instructions on how to use the Grants Gateway How-to Guide and have your questions answered with our Grants Gateway FAQs.
Before you submit your application via the online Grants Gateway, please ensure you have:
If you have significant issues accessing a stable internet connection, please contact our team to discuss an alternative way of applying:
Ph: 1800 170 020 or Email: info@frrr.org.au
“FRRR’s grant application was clearly set out, staff were friendly and helpful when I had a few questions, and the whole process was easily achievable. We are grateful for the opportunity to receive funding to improve Adavale Lane Community Centre so it can be accessed and used for the benefit of our whole community.”
Danielle Diener, Secretary – Adavale Lane Community Centre Incorporated, SRC R9
Inspiration – Past projects
Explore some of the projects we’ve previously funded to see how other organisations have helped their community thrive.
Building Buchan’s resilience through rodeo
A $25,000 Strengthening Rural Communities grant, funded by the Firefight Australia Fund, enabled the Buchan Rodeo Committee to stage the highly successful Buchan Rodeo, which has been a highlight of the local event calendar for more than 50 years.
The rodeo was an opportunity for the East Gippsland community in Victoria to come together after the bushfire crisis which threatened the community for more than four months, and led to the cancellation of the 2020 rodeo.
Making a difference in Port Macquarie
Make a Difference Port Macquarie (MAD PMQ) is a local support agency helping their community respond to the effects of cumulative disasters. However, their fundraising efforts have been severely hampered by COVID-19 restrictions, which had a massive impact on revenue and their ability to support the community.
MAD PMQ received a $25,000 grant through the SRC program, funded by the Sidney Myer Fund, to expand their services to vulnerable and homeless people in the community, particularly those affected by the 2019/20 bushfires.
Community wellbeing retreats aid recovery
The Jindivick Progress Association developed an initiative to address the long-term effects of stress and grief that had plagued the local community since it was adversely affected by the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.
They received a $14,750 Grants for Resilience & Wellness (GR&W) grant, funded by VBAF, to run a series of five community wellbeing retreats that supported the health and psychological wellbeing of residents in the fire-affected communities of Jindivick, Labertouche and Drouin West.
Disaster preparedness workshops for FNQ
Through a $25,000 Strengthening Rural Communities grant, the Tablelands Regional Council has supported its community with disaster management and preparedness workshops, in partnership with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.
Thanks to the support of a private donor, the workshops have enabled residents to better prepare before and during disasters and provided valuable ideas to help families, homes and businesses recover from adversity.
Perpetual power for Tarana’s bushfire brigade
The 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfires highlighted that losing power to brigade sheds is a barrier to emergency services being as responsive as needed.
With a $25,000 grant from the Volunteer Emergency Services Fund, generously funded by a private donor, the Tarana Volunteer Bushfire Brigade, on the NSW Central Tablelands, has installed a solar powered battery backup system for their shed.
Stanthorpe art event fights social isolation
A $20,000 Tackling Tough Times Together grant, funded by the Australian Government allowed the management committee of the Granite Belt Art and Craft Trail to go ahead with the highly anticipated annual culture and tourism event, Open Studio.
The grant covered the major costs in putting on the event, which helped to bring visitors back to the town, and was a welcome boost to the local economy which had felt mounting stress from recent disasters including severe drought and bushfires.
Proudly supported by
This program is collaboratively and generously supported by the following donors:
